Denmark

After a long time I'm able to arrange some swaps again and it feels great indeed. Cards from new countries to my collection are on the way too, which makes me really happy. Here's a Danish postcard that I received from Hans yesterday. Thanks :)

Burundi

My very first postcard from Burundi which I actually received quite some time ago thanks to Maick and his friend :) It is such a shame the majority of people from Europe know so little about African countries, especially the smaller ones, such as Burundi.

Burundi is a relatively small landlocked country in the African Great Lakes region. Burundi had been an indigenous kingdom for over 200 years when Germany colonized the region at the beginning of the twentieth century. After the German defeat in the WWI, Belgium established a colony called Ruanda-Urundi whose part was Burundi. In the following decades a civil war broke out resulting in Burundi as a democratic republic as we know it today. Unfortunately, Burundi is nowadays one of the poorest countries of the world. It is also one of the least globalized countries. 

In April 2015 protests broke out after the ruling party announced President Pierre Nkurunziza would seek a third term in office. Protestors claimed Nkurunziza could not run for a third term in office but the country's constitutional court agreed with the President (although some of its members had fled the country at the time of its vote). 

In spite of all the difficulties that the country is facing, the culture of the peoples living in Burundy is very interesting and literacy among adult women in Burundi has been increasing. So, not everything is bad! 

Serbia

Vrbas is a small town and municipality in the north of Serbia. The town was mentioned first in 1213 during the administration of the Kingdom of Hungary. According to other sources, it was mentioned first in 1387. Thanks to Renato for these beautiful bell towers and nice stamps.

India

India has always been kind of a mystery for me. All the ancient myths, epics, philosphy... It's truly a unique country with long tradition and specific way of living. Would love to spend some time there (since it's a huge country, it would take time to see all of the most important sights though). 

A bit about the earliest times in Indian literature... The earliest literary writings in India, composed between 1700 BCE and 1200 CE, were in the Sanskrit language. Prominent works of this Sanskrit literature include epics such as the Mahābhārata and the Ramayana, the dramas of Kālidāsa such as the Abhijñānaśākuntalam (The Recognition of Śakuntalā), and poetry such as the Mahākāvya.

This is my first market postcard after a long time. Some pretty nice stamps were used ( the one in the upper corner is a joint issue with Slovenian post from 2014). 

Latvia

Founded in 1201, Riga has to this day grown to be the largest city of the Baltic states and the home to over one third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga, at the mouth of the Daugava. Riga's historical centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, noted for its Art Nouveau/Jugendstil architecture and 19th century wooden architecture.

Cyprus

An archaeologistical gem, Kourion ancient theatre on Cyprus :)  Kourion, or Curium in Latin, was an ancien Greek city located on the coast of Cyprus. The theatre was originally constructed in the 2nd century BC, with additional expansions in the following centuries. It could accommodate approximately 3500 spectators. The theatre has been completely restored and is used today for open air performances. It is one of the venues for the International Festival of Ancient Greek Drama. Wouldn't it be magical to be sitting on the same place as somebody some 2000 years ago, enjoying classical Greek drama? Many thanks go to Nasia.